Unto us a child is born
by TheMisadventurer
Summary: It is several years after the events of Unwound Future, our beloved characters have continued their lives as usual in peace until one day, Professor Layton gets a call during one of his lectures from Flora. The news kicked in. His wife is in labour.


Hello there! Since we usually see Layton suffer or sad in his life, I decided to write something happy for him this time!  
I hope, you enjoy it and I can bring a smile to your face!

* * *

"And this is how his theories are still somewhat correct even today."  
The Professor paused for a moment and looked around in the lecture hall. It was rather quiet, like always, and most of the students were actually listening or even taking notes while others were occupied by other means.  
Not that he minded it a lot. He couldn't force people to be interested in archeology and its history. As long as they wouldn't make any noise, it would be just fine.  
A weak sigh escaped his lips as his eyes were distracted by the view at the window. The sky was clear, the streets of London alive with dozens of people, young and old. It was a nice day which was rather unusual for Britain, but the month of May did always bring rather sunny days.

Hershel shook his head once to get back to the topic, turned to the blackboard with a piece of chalk in his hands. He flipped it between his fingers, wondered where to start.  
"Well, now if we turn our attention to the discoveries of the 20th century-"  
Poor Professor was never meant to hold his whole lecture without being interrupted. Soft beeping sounds ringed out of the shelf of his desk. A little bit of red appeared on his cheeks, he coughed in embaressment and the majority of the students chuckled gently when he was excusing himself while he took out his mobile phone.  
Normally, he would have turned it off or at least put it on vibrate, but the last few days were special and he couldn't risk missing a single call. His hands were already shaking as soon as the cold square object lay in his palm.  
It was Flora.  
Hershel turned away from the class, his mouth felt dry. There wasn't much that he could understand, she was obviously nervous and out of breath, but he could get the gist. What made it even worse was the fact that he couldn't even hear her properly sometimes and her speech was a puzzle in itself, but there were three main things that stuck in his mind.

_\- Mother and me were in the city_  
_\- Her water broke_  
_\- Taking an ambulance_

His face grew pale. He breathed in the air sharply at the realisation.  
The call ended rather suddenly, the connection was probably interrupted by some tunnel on their way of the Hospital. Without any hesitation, his phone slipped into his jacket and he turned around to his students without showing any over the top emotion on his face.  
"It seems that I have to end today's lecture earlier than expected." Hershel coughed a bit to keep his voice calm and relaxed despite what was going on in both his mind and stomach right now. "I am sure none of you are too disappointed though and I do have my reasons for those who do feel sad." He couldn't prevent a wide smile to grace his lips, his dark honey eyes shining with utter anticipation. His knees were weak, his body shaking. "I have to follow my duties as a Husband; my pregnant Wife is on her way to the Hospital and I hope that you understand that I have the need to support her when she actually gives birth." His patience grew thin, he packed up a few things, most students were cheering in happiness even though he couldn't tell if that was because of the news that he was going to be a father or of the lecture was over 30 minutes before it should have been.  
But that wasn't important right now.

After having taken his bag to the office, Layton hurried out of the university to get to his car. Even Dean Delmona, who needed help for yet another puzzle that he should have solved for his niece, was left behind without an answer, because there was no time to lose now.  
This wasn't exactly the behaviour of a Gentleman and the Professor actually felt a bit bad about it, but his heart was racing so much that he couldn't stop in his tracks at all.  
"I'll get right to it once I am back, please excuse my rushed parting!", Hershel called down the corridor after he had left Dean Delmona behind with a confused expression. There wasn't much of an explaination either, but some of the others would tell him and Delmona would understand.  
Hopefully.  
Not that his mind made any sense by now, he felt like a young man again with his excitement being uncontrolable. This was especially visible in the angle of his tophat, he could barely keep it on his head which was a miracle in itself, seeing how Hershel had done the most reckless things without it even daring to fall off. This must have been serious then.

Not even the Layton Mobil failed on him this day despite its age. Perhaps even this mashine knew of the true nature of his heart and wouldn't dare getting in the way. Who knew how much of a Gentleman was left inside of him at this point.  
All right, to be fair, he would probably just get a little nervous if the car didn't respond, however, that was not the case and so he had to face the next problem.  
How would he get to the Hospital the fastest way?  
There was always the center; it was the shortest path, but the traffic was horrible at all times. Then there was the residential areas with paths so confusing that you could get lost, but Hershel had lived most of his life in London to be okay with most routes. The time to get to the Hospital was rather ridiculous though... No one could possibly know which way would turn out to be the fastest.  
After a minute of thinking, the Professor turned on the radio and started the car. Perhaps the news would tell him about the current traffic in London. Unfortunately, not even the news Lady had a clue or at least any hint that would help him. Through the center it was then for there was still hope that he could get through faster than usual. Staying in the speed limit was tedious, but what didn't one do to be a Gentleman. Also, Hershel didn't need a ticket for speeding, not now.

The Professor wasn't even on the streets for ten minutes when his phone started ringing again. With one hand, he fished it out of his inner pocket and put it on speaker.  
The familiar voice of Luke came out in dull sounds.  
"I have heard the news!" He couldn't help but laugh merrily before he continued. "Congrats in advance, just in case we won't make it!"  
Hershel raised his eyebrows in surprise as his gaze was still glued on the street. "Thank you very much, my boy, but... 'We'?" Luke had left London a few years ago for a public school and didn't visit them very often due to his studies, however, he liked to call just to see how everyone was doing.  
"Yes, me and my parents! Professor, you can't believe that they don't want to be with you today, right?"  
Another smile sneaked back, a hearty laughter escaped his mouth. "Oh, I should have guessed so! Please give both Clark and Brenda my best regards."  
"Will do! But I'm sorry if I have to stop the call now, they are about to pick me up and you need to focus on the road! See you at the Hospital then!"  
Before Layton could even answer anything lengthly back, Luke had already hung up, probably almost as excited about the whole matter as he was. After all, the young man had kept talking about how he'd be the uncle of the Professor's child and Hershel actually thought about making him the godfather as devoted as he was. This, however, he hadn't told Luke yet for he would probably have half of a heartattack and no one needed this to happen.  
Therefore, it was more than obvious that Luke wanted to be informed as soon as the baby was on its way. Flora was responsible for the whole matter, most likely. They were talking to one another rather often the past few weeks, now that Hershel thought about it...

"Wait, what's this?"  
As soon as the Professor's concentration snapped back fully on the streets, he was rather unfamiliar with where he ended up. This was to the path, no, there was no Indian grocery store on the way to the Hospital. Hershel frowned for a moment as he realized that he must have taken the wrong turn.  
A heavy sigh escaped his mouth and he shook his head. "I am too distracted for my own good, I suppose", he grumbled to himself, adjusted his hat once more and tried to push away the fact that he was going to have a child very soon in order to focus on getting to his wife who was probably wondering where he had ended up this time.  
Well, she _would_ ponder on such things, but the chance of that happening currently was rather low, seeing how being in labour distracts a woman fairly well.  
Now Layton could only hope that she wouldn't be too mad about him taking the wrong turn and arriving late. After all, navigating back to main road would have to take a while.  
30 minutes, to be exact, that's what his watch said when he had gotten back on the correct route. London, as wonderful as it was, sure was huge enough to get lost in even for those who had lived most of their life in the city. There was always an unknown corner at the end of the street.

This surely was an odd and yet wonderful day to remember.  
How his child had been a little eager to see this world, how the baby's father was more excited than he had expected to be, how happy all the others had been. The most strange of all was the great weather, of course. But maybe his joy was so great that even the sky had noticed.  
Layton wouldn't have been surprised. He had experienced the weirdest mysteries the past few years, so this wouldn't even be that big of a shocker.  
Another glance on the watch.  
It was around 4:30pm already when he had finally stopped at the Hospital. A bit more than an hour had passed since he had left Gressenheller University. The ambulance was most likely a lot faster than him; ten minutes maximum, but it was probably less than that. Heat rose in his face as he thought of it, felt embaressed of his own careless mistake and hastened inside. The nurse gladly told him about the current situation while she led him through the corridors to the labour ward; Miss Layton was obviously in labour, only allowed to be attended by the doctor, other nurses and her personal midwife. Despite the personal shock and surprise from the water breaking all of a sudden, she had remained relatively calm, but Hershel knew that this was her typical nature. A cool head in every situation, clever and highly analytical.  
"F-Father, there you are!" Flora had ran over to his side as soon as he showed up in the corridor where she had been waiting the entire time. Without any hesitation, she threw her arms around him and embraced him tight. She was constantly tearing up from either relief or worry, but knowing Flora, it was most likely both.  
"I'm sorry for being late, I was being a bit foolish..." He laughed weakly as Hershel returned the hug and patted her shoulders. "You're fine, I hope?" The young woman whiped her tears off with a tissue and she nodded quickly, grabbed the other's arms as she was trembling, then she couldn't help but giggle lightly at her own reaction.  
"It was Mother who was less nervous than me... Even the men in the ambulance were surprised to see how much she was cooperating despite her current state", Flora continued with a smile which caused him to chuckle as well. He didn't expect anything else. His eyes shifted to the door into which the nurse had gone in after she had lead him here. Naturally, his adoptive daughter noticed right away. "She is fine and kept reassuring me that everything will be all right... You know that she is never truely wrong with her calculations."  
Hershel shifted uncomfortably in place and his cheeks flushed red. He couldn't deny that he was worried, it was easily visible in his expression. "That is certainly the case, yes..." Flora took him by his hands, so that they would both sit down, though neither would refuse to let go of the hand of the other. You could hear Flora's shoes tapping on the clean floor while Hershel kept caressing the other one's hand with his thumb, though it wasn't sure if he did it to calm her down or himself.  
An eternity of silence had passed as they sat there, unable to express whatever they were feeling now. Layton's heart lay heavy as stone in his chest, he took off his tophat as he felt too nervous and worried.  
Everything will be fine, he told himself with a shaky voice even in his mind. Everything will go swimmingly, why should there be any complications anyway?  
As soon as his eyes shifted into the corridor - another sounds coming from the left side - he spotted the Tritons.  
Luke, of course, embraced his mentor firmly as soon as they had stood close to one another. "I can't believe it! Time flies by so fast and now you'll be a father, Professor!" Hershel chuckled at that and Luke tilted his head to the side once he glanced at Flora. "W-Well, you were a father before, b-but... Let's just say, you'll have a child!" His cheeks flushed red when Flora frowned, so he went over to her and hugged her as well as an apology. The others smiled at that scene before Clark approached the becoming father as well.  
"I think, my son put it the best", he began as he took Layton by his shoulders with a kind smile. "Time has flied by so fast that it seems like yesterday when we had finished University."  
"And now we stand here, all anxious to welcome a new member to your family", Brenda added with a chuckle, joined her Husband's side. Hershel looked between the two and managed to smile back despite his heart jumping in his chest every once in a while. Another sigh escaped his lips as he couldn't help but stare back at the door, then he pulled his left sleeve back a little to look at the watch. There were reassuring words here and there for him, it felt like balm to his troubles mind, but every new thought sent him back to his shaking self.

As Luke was trying to distract his mentor with stories from his time at public school, the midwife had left the labour ward. Everyone went quiet despite the woman not indicating that something had happened, her expression neutral.  
"Excuse me, Mister Layton? Would you follow me into the labour ward? Your wife was asking for you." Naturally, he immediately got up and turned to the others with his cheeks flushing red a tad.  
"Don't worry, if it takes too long, we will take care of Flora", Clark chuckled and patted Hershel's back. He gave a light nod even if Flora didn't wish to stay away from her adoptive parents, but she would be fine, especially if Luke was there to secretly hold her hand. - It was relatively obvious, but no one commented on it, they had more important things to talk about. -  
Naturally, Flora wasn't quite happy to see her father leave without her, but she understood. After all, this was something incredibly intimate and she may be still a little bit too young for that even at the age of 17. At least, he wasn't running off without her knowing of it like he and Luke usually did in the past in order to protect her from greater danger and yet somehow couldn't keep her out of it. Though, now Luke was staying behind as well, that would help her deal with the entire situation greatly.  
"I'll stay here as long as I have to! I am not leaving without you!", Flora said with stern determination in her voice, her own cheeks flared up in defiance. Even though she would always be rather phyiscally fragile, Flora managed to grow incredibly stubborn in many situations and if the young woman was staying in the Hospital, so was Luke.  
"I didn't come all the way down to London just to leave again!", he laughed with confidence as Flora left his side for a moment to plant a gentle kiss on her father's cheek for good luck.

The couple had talked about this subjects for months. His wife, as cool-headed as she was, would always say that she could probably handle the situation by herself, but giving birth was even intimidating to her. She wasn't quite confident if she wanted Hershel in the labour ward, saying that she wouldn't want to yell at him and having the need to harm him, seeing how he was partially the reason that she was in this situation right now.  
But if she did indeed feel fear, she would need him to soothe her troubled mind. And now, this was the case, both having huge respect for this sort of act. In the end, both would need each other during this time and even if his wife wasn't actually nervous, she knew that he was. Both needed reassurement.

The midwife hastened to the doctor's side, who nodded with a smile to the becoming father, while Hershel approached his wife. As expected and wanted, she was laying in bed, her face pale and a few wavy strands of dark red hair sticking to her sweaty forehead. A relieved smile graced her thin lips when Hershel sat next to her and grabbed her hand. She was shaking in pain, her breath short.  
"How are you feeling?", he asked with a low voice, the worry clearly shining through. The other gave a weak chuckle and squeezed his hand as she got up a little to lean against him.  
"I have... Been better, I guess." She seemed to relax and Hershel smiled back. Somehow, both of them were happy, were afraid at the same time. Just to think about how their lives would change drastically in a few hours; that was incredible and barely imaginable. His other hand gently caressed her belly and took a deep breath. "But I am glad that you are here, Hershel..." She closed her eyes as if trying to focus while the labour pain send shivers through her entire body, a helpless moan parted her lips.  
"So am I. In the end, I can't see a Lady in pain", he replied and kissed the back of her hand, then her forehead and she sighed once more. The need of trying to comfort her was rising drastically, he had a hard time watching her being in pain even if it was for a great cause.  
His wife lightly shook her head and laughed. "Always a true Gentleman, I didn't expect anything else from you." At least her mind was still clear despite her pain which would distract her every few minutes now, thus they knew that the second stage of labour - the most exhausting part of childbirth - was about to begin. Her grip around his hand became tighter, she pressed her lips together and tried her best not to show how uptight she was. The doctor was checking everything, they were trying to ignore the fact that things would get serious soon.  
There was only one thing left to do for Hershel. "In a guest book of a hotel, you can read that on the 28th, exactly 13 guests have checked out and 19 guest have- I-I mean... It was 16, not 19, but I remember something with the number 19 and I'm sure if I'm mixing this up with another puzzle, yet-" He pressed his lips together in embaressment as he had started to ramble, she squeezed his hand with a light giggle.  
"It's all right, dear. Though, I have to say, our child better not share your passion for solving mysteries..." There was a sigh, half in amusement and half in actual seriousness. After all, the Professor did enjoy getting close to the dangerous cases, she wouldn't need another person close to her running through dark nights, trying to get to the truth by all means possible.  
There was no promise that this wouldn't happen, but Hershel chuckled at the comment nonetheless. "This is not a matter of genetics, I'm afraid." There was no way that he would endanger his child's life with his own interests, his little family would be kept out of trouble as good as possible, however, both Ladies in the household could never accept letting him run off all by himself - with or without Luke, that didn't matter to them -.

Before she could react to his answer, another wave of pain shook her, more awful than the other times and she clinged to his hand. Hershel gazed at the doctor who merely nodded as if she was confirmed a certain fact by having watched the reactions of the pregnant woman.  
"The baby seems to have turned the right position, we will get to the second stage of labour very soon. Breath slowly, make yourself as comfortable as possible."  
Thus, a long night waited for the couple. Hershel couldn't remember how long it took, perhaps nine or ten hours, he wasn't glancing on the clock anymore as his full attention turned to his wife struggling with childbirth. He would drop words of encouragement to her every once in a while, not wanting to break her concentration or interrupt the directions of both the doctor and the midwife, yet his hand kept on holding onto hers and she completely refused him to leave her side despite getting frustrated and irritated due to all the strain. The hours were stretching, time seemed to have moved slower with every minute that had passed and the becoming mother was getting impatient which was highly unlike her, though every extra second of this procedure drained her energy drastically. The Professor could also remember how it eventually turned dark, the rain drummed against the windows and was soothing to their ears in the breaks, even he was sweating a little out of worry, but everything seemed to be going fine except for the baby sure taking its time. Perhaps it could sense the cold weather of England already and prefered to stay in the womb.  
No one could blame the baby for that, really.

Then it was all over in a flash.  
There was silence, the muffled sound of rain reaching them and everyone seemed to have held their breath for a moment. First a few helpless whimpers, then weak cries filled the silence and every other person allowed themselves to take a breath again, let out sighs of relief and faint chuckles of joy.  
It was a boy.  
A healthy baby boy born on an early, rainy May morning.  
These were the moments Hershel could remember ever so clearly. How they had placed the child on the mother's belly, how he fidged around and looked up in curiosity. They had sobbed a little, there was no denying in that, for their bliss was greater than anything they had experienced before. A tiny new life was simply laying there and fell asleep in a matter of minutes, no one knowing what would happen next, but that didn't matter at this point.  
Everything was all right.  
Alfendi was his name. Alfendi Layton.  
That's what they had decided on a few months ago. Hershel hadn't known the gender, he didn't want to know until it actually happened. It didn't matter to him whether or not the child turned out to be a boy or girl as long as it was healthy and well.  
Though, he had to admit, it was relieving to have another man in the household now.  
How his arms had been shaking when he was allowed to hold his son for the first time. The midwife had helped him cut the umbilical cord, clean the baby and as the child was wrapped in a light blue blanket, Hershel couldn't believe it anymore.  
Such glee and pride caused his heart to skip a beat. The Professor didn't even want to let go of him anymore, he wished to shower him with all the affections he had to offer. Instead, he pressed a soft kiss on the baby's forehead and handed him over to his mother who had finally relaxed and shined with felicity. There was something incredibly calm and composed about her with a smile ever so bright when she caressed the cheeks of their child. Alfendi stirred in his sleep, but wasn't too bothered by it.

After everything had calmed down, with the mother and child being asleep, Hershel scuffled back to the labour ward where the others had been waiting all this time. They seemed to be dozing, depite Flora who gave an impression of having stayed awake all those hours without any sign of exhaustion. She was also the first one to approach him in eager and as soon as he showed her a tired, yet happy smile, she couldn't contain her tears and flung her arms around him. The other three reacted the same way, embracing the Professor and laughing in pure delight as he told them what happened and how he felt.  
"It is very draining and painful", Brenda mumbled as she took Clark's hand. "But as soon as it was over and I saw Luke, it was as if all that pain had never existed. In the end, all the effort and exhaustion was for a good cause and we could see it. Just as our life has changed drastically, so will yours, but I am sure the change will only bring good."  
"Just like our son did and yours will be a true mastermind, I can already tell", Clark added with pride swelling in his voice and Luke lowered his head, his cheeks flushing red at their comments. His mother rubbed his back reassuringly, but this didn't help his embaressment much.  
Hershel chuckled at the scene. "I have no doubts that you are right. You have raised a great son." If Luke could have flustered even more, he would have and steam would be coming out of his ears at this point. "I am glad that I might experience just the same now even if I still can't believe it myself..." However, it was part of reality now and Hershel was glad that it was. A child was born into his life that would now so many new turns.

However, they all needed a rest for now.  
It was easily decided that they would come to visit as soon as possible, so they could greet Alfendi as well. No need to bother anybody at this time of the new day, they had plenty of moments they would spend with him after all.  
And they were all looking forward to it.  
To the new future with the youngest member of their loving family.


End file.
